Monday, May 21, 2007

The hardest thing to do over a 16 week training schedule is to break it up! Swimming free the whole time can cause stress on the joints and even wear you out. Learning to swim different strokes can make training fun again! Swimming the Butterfly or "fly" is tough, but once mastered you are stronger and more flexible then when you started. "Butterfly is a difficult stroke to swim as it needs both stamina and style.The movements you need to make, however, are not difficult because you will have done many of them before in other strokes.

Under and over with the arms1) Both of your arms work at the same time and keep moving throughout the stroke.2) Put your hands in the water in front of your shoulders and push towards your feet.3)When your hands reach your thighs, lift them out of the water and throw them back to the start.

Sounds easy doesn't it?

Well, it can be if you make sure that you are pushing hard as your hands reach your thighs.This will help them to fly out of the water.

Look forward to breathe1) You need to keep your head in the water all of the time, except when you need to breathe in.2) If you lift your head up at other times it will be almost impossible to get your arms over the water.3) The easiest way to breathe in is to push your chin forwards so that your mouth comes out of the water. It is best to do this when your arms are almost at your thighs.

Getting the order right.If you do not do everything in the right order your stroke will have no style. Try this:• Kick your legs down as your hands go in• Kick your legs down as your hands come out• Head down when arms go over the water• Keep head down until arms are near thighs• Breathe in quickly• Remember to try to improve one bit at a time.

Once you think you have done all of these things spend a few sessions practicing them and then have a look at intermediate butterfly."Check it out! BBC Sports